By Jim Sack
Just before council started last night one member noticed a large drawing of the Ardmore corridor taped to the wall and lamented “that will take three hours.” He could not have been farther from the truth. Half an hour at the max. Not even Liz Brown challenged assumptions. Only Marty Bender commented, from his position as president and from experience in “working accidents there” that there might be some minor design flaws. Nothing much, John Shoaff, an advocate for the project, had two star witnesses on the bench ready to call in, but there was no need. David Ross, the city engineer, repeated note how involved the process had been and how many hours had been spent working with the neighborhood to get “everyone on board.” It was his mantra last night. Neighborhood involvement. So, a few simple questions and a vote. Yeas carried. Everybody was in favor. The price tag is well over $3 million, but Mr. Ross noted that the bids came in much, much under, around a million dollars under, the estimates. Great savings, according to Ross. So they seem to be.
Another measure that passed was funding for more preliminary work on Maplecrest south of State Street at Georgetown. A bridge will someday cross the Maumee east of the downtown linking the industrial area of the east side with the residential sprawl of the Georgetown area. Mr. Ross talked about drawings, right-of-way and consultations with neighborhoods. In transitioning from the discussions concerning Ardmore to those involving Georgetown John Shoaff noted the cooperation between city and neighborhoods had been very good concerning the west side project and boded well for the coming disruptions along Maplecrest, the old Meyer Road. It was noted that Maplecrest north of State is on the list for widening… It seems Ardmore will be the internal truck route west and Maplecrest to the east. You can see the five-laner from 469 north to 930, perhaps churning through corn fields to 469 on the south side. Property values are in for some dramatic change. Incidentally, Maplecrest was once known as the Meyer Road and was named for the sturdy German pioneers who did the hard work and later renamed by the sedentary county commissioners to sound more bucolic. Perhaps the name will revert to the Meyer Road honoring someone, which Maplecrest does not.
Most of the rest of the measures on the agenda last night flew through. A tree trimming contract generated a question or two, a discussion of erosion control along the St. Mary’s at Wayne and Thieme Drive lingered briefly, but there was a bit of a fight when Deputy Controller Val Ahr testified concerning an ordinance to lease vehicles for the city. She proudly chirped that fifteen bid packets had been requested by financial organizations , and a whopping five had been submitted. She was excited about the increase from just two bidders in years past. The finalists: PNC Bank and Star Financial. The winner: PNC, based in Pittsburgh.
The chair of that committee, Karen Goldner, asked Mrs. Ahr if the bids had been weighed against her “Buy Indiana” ordinance which passed a few months back. The bill gives preference to Indiana companies in contract dealings, companies that may be headquartered in Tokyo, but have an office in Indiana. Star is clearly an Indiana company, PNC does have many branches here and probably qualifies under the vague and arcane provisions of the ordinance. A bill also gives preference to companies based in Evansville over companies located in Hicksville. Mrs. Ahr stammered a bit and blurted that by the standards of the Buy Indiana ordinance the lease financing under discussion would cost taxpayers an additional $40,000. Mrs. Brown interrupted and was quickly called out of order by Mrs. Goldner. John Shoaff, sitting between the two councilwomen, slumped just a bit in his chair. Mrs. Brown then retorted that Mrs. Goldner, who seemed surprised by some details in the exchange, had “authored the bill…and should know.” She was ruled out of order again. Mrs. Goldner also told Mrs. Ahr that she should have know about the bill, it was “passed by council and signed by the mayor.” She added with an icy tone that it seemed that the controller’s office and purchasing were failing to communicate. A little Democrat on Democrat violence.
It is not the first time Madames Goldner and Brown have snapped at each other. It is becoming a regular part of council meetings. (A little Republican on Democrat violence…) You could almost see Mr. Decorum, Mitch Harper, wince, again. And, John Shoaff, Mr. Congeniality, took a few seconds and then pulled himself upright again.
Otherwise, it was a quite congenial night.
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I should add that Mr. Shoaff is very congenial and Mr. Harper prides himself on decorum and politeness at the table. Both are true gentlemen and to be respected for their restraint.
Mrs. Goldner and Mrs. Brown have both worn out their welcome and need to be voted off soon. Mrs. Brown has picked up on the feeling for her by the public and has kept a low profile with her jaws but the damage has been done. Hopefully, Fort Wayne voters will take care of business next time around.
Russ, you are right, I think, about Mrs. Brown's recent "quiet." She has not been as aggressive as during the last part of 2009, and especially during the budget process. She is also seen by other members as a big spender. That suggests some analysis, but that also requires a lot of time to go over every vote. Would be interesting, though. Ms. Goldner has also reduced her base with the recent ordinance introduction. She won because Don Schmidt seems to have taken his re-election for granted, not to mention an injury made "walking" very, very hard for him. Ms. Goldner brings a lot of economic development expertise to the group, but it is hard to tell whether that has resulted in benefits to the community. Don had 37 years of experience, so his economic development skills were honed through his own experience. In all, his loss was our loss. Ms. Goldner has learned a great deal about the water resources and systems in the city and county and that is a significant plus. With the vast amounts being spent to comply with federal demands to separate our sewers that expertise is invaluable. You can catch her video forays into the world of sewers and lift stations on the city channel on the two cable systems. They are quite good, actually.